First Drive: 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT

Seville, Spain – Porsche’s refresh of the Taycan was about as comprehensive as you’d expect from the brand. It’s not easy to tell from the exterior design changes as those would require someone well versed in Porsche lore to tell apart the 2025 from the 2024, but underneath the sheet metal is where the engineers made significant strides to improve the Taycan.

All the new Taycan models receive a new rear-axle electric motor that adds an additional 80 kW (109 hp) of power. Even the base 4S produces a maximum of 590 horsepower and 523 pound-feet of torque. If those figures seem pretty high to you, they won’t even begin to prepare you for the mental and physical onslaught of the all-new Taycan Turbo GT.

If the Turbo GT name sounds familiar it’s because the Cayenne SUV was first to use it. As you might have guessed, it means more performance, more power, and a closer connection to motorsport. In other words, it’s the new flagship trim with an emphasis on sport and the all-electric Taycan Turbo GT essentially takes what you thought of as a fast car and chucks it out the window.

The Turbo GT starts with the 938 hp dual-motor electric drivetrain from the new Turbo S, including the new 105 kWh battery (97 kWh usable) but adds a new and more powerful 900-amp pulse inverter on the rear axle. The pulse inverter is crucial for acceleration, energy recuperation, and also efficiency. It allows the Turbo GT to launch with an insane 1092 hp and 1300 lb-ft of torque but still maintain a range of over 550 km according to Porsche. And while that range figure might seem optimistic it’s the same quoted figures for the less powerful versions.

Porsche focused on efficiency as much as it did with power, and all refreshed Taycans including the Turbo GT can charge at up to 320 kW, a 50-kW jump from before and the company says it can maintain a greater charging speed for a longer period of time even when charging past the 80 per cent mark.

But the big news with the Turbo GT isn’t its efficiency or its accelerative force, it’s how fast it can go around a racetrack. Porsche recently sent one around the Nürburgring faster than any other production four door sedan in the world with a scarcely believable time of 7:07.55, 26 seconds faster than the last Taycan Turbo S to go around and faster than the Tesla Model S Plaid, the last sedan to claim the record. It also set a production EV lap record at Laguna Seca.

The massive amounts of power are a big reason for the Turbo GT’s speed but it also weighs 75 kg less than the Turbo S, achieved mainly through carbon trim pieces, lightweight and forged 21-inch wheels with relief milled spokes, and standard carbon-ceramic brakes. The Turbo GT also gets GT-specific suspension tuning and the new Porsche Active Ride suspension as standard equipment. Active Ride is essentially magical new suspension technology that uses hydraulics to keep the body level no matter the situation or how bumpy or undulating the road may be.

If all this seems a bit hardcore, the new Weissach package takes it even further with an additional weight savings of 70 kg by nixing the rear seats for a carbon-fibre panel, getting rid of the dashboard clock, one of the two charging ports, the Bose stereo system, and adding special heat and sound-insulating glass. A Weissach pack Taycan can be identified by its unique front spoiler and large fixed carbon wing on the trunk lid complete with Weissach logos.

The Weissach pack is a no-cost option and it’s essentially a track-ready version of the Taycan and thanks to its lower weight it can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in a scant 2.2 seconds. Even more astounding is its 0-200 km/h time of just 6.4 seconds.

The sky-high performance envelope of the Turbo GT, especially when equipped with the Weissach package, can really only be experienced on a closed course and we were lucky enough to do just that on a small but fast track near Sevilla in Spain. We repeatedly launched the Turbo GT, which produced forces I can only imagine being matched by the Big Bang, but it was how neutral and how easy the car was in the corners that was just as amazing.

Lap after lap the Turbo GT became a trusted friend, inspiring more confidence behind the wheel than anything with 1300 lb-ft of torque has a right to be. With beautifully weighted steering and monstrous fade-free brakes we could have probably lapped it all day without breaking a sweat. And we were on a wet track. Kudos has to be given to the sticky Pirelli Trofeo RS tires developed specially for the Turbo GT that displayed relentless grip even in pouring rain.

The incredible Nürburgring lap time set by Porsche was also made possible by the Turbo GT’s new “attack mode”, available at the press of a button or by pulling the right steering wheel paddle, it adds an additional 161 hp for 10 seconds and it can be used every 4 seconds.

The new Taycan Turbo GT sets new performance standards for automobiles in general and not just electric cars and it’s truly an impressive piece of engineering. The Turbo GT with or without the Weissach pack starts at $270,000 but comes with most of the major options as standard equipment. It’s a lot of money but it offers a lot of performance and it’s available to order now.